Lode family mourns yet another loss

Thursday

Jul 25, 2013 at 12:01 AM

SAN ANDREAS - A man died when his motorcycle collided with a pickup early Wednesday in San Andreas, another tragic story in the saga of a troubled family that has been decimated by drunken-driving accidents and arrests in recent years, authorities said.

Jason Anderson

SAN ANDREAS - A man died when his motorcycle collided with a pickup early Wednesday in San Andreas, another tragic story in the saga of a troubled family that has been decimated by drunken-driving accidents and arrests in recent years, authorities said.

Michael David Thein, 26, sustained fatal injuries as a result of the collision, the California Highway Patrol said. The accident occurred almost exactly three years after Thein's brother, Matthew, was arrested for vehicular manslaughter following a collision that killed their father, 50-year-old Michael Robert Thein, and his 54-year-old girlfriend, Karen Lundy, authorities said.

According to officers, Michael David Thein was going south on Pool Station Road, south of Oneto Ranch, at a high rate of speed on a 2004 Suzuki motorcycle about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday. At the same time, Michael McPhee, 32, of San Andreas was pulling out of his driveway, preparing to make a left turn on Pool Station Road, officers said.

McPhee said he looked both ways and did not see or hear any oncoming traffic, the CHP said. As he exited his driveway, McPhee said he saw the motorcycle come over the crest of a hill at a high speed. Thein applied the brakes sharply and skidded into the left front corner of McPhee's pickup, officers said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Thein had been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and auto theft, the CHP said. Authorities are trying to determine whether he was riding a stolen motorcycle and whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officers said.

In December 2008, Michael Robert Thein, Matthew Thein and Lundy were arrested along with two other people after the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office broke up an alleged burglary ring, authorities said.

On July 28, 2010, Matthew Thein and Michael David Thein were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving following a deadly collision that killed Lundy and their father, officers said. Michael Robert Thein was the son of former Calaveras County Supervisor Lucy Thein.

According to the CHP, Matthew Thein was driving south on Gold Strike Road in San Andreas in a 1993 Dodge Caravan when he swerved into the northbound lane and struck another vehicle. Matthew Thein later pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter after authorities said he was driving drunk.

Michael Robert Thein was called to the scene and then arrested when officers determined that he also was driving under the influence, the CHP said.